Origins of a Dick - James Weidner His 192 Origins of a Dick...

James Weidner His 192 Origins of a Dick The Legacy Of Vice-President Nixon In 1952, Dwight D Eisenhower became the 34 th president of the United States. His Vice President was a congressman from California named Richard Millhouse Nixon. Nixon may be better known for his oval office firsts in his own two terms as president; but he was an unprecedented political key as VP in Eisenhower’s administration. History tends to look at Nixon with an unfavorable eye because of Watergate. (Rightfully so) However history tends to focus too much on his presidency and tends to gloss over his tenure as a senator and his great contributions as Vice President. These contributions include his help in the Convention, on the campaign trail, and his intimate relationship with Eisenhower which led to many VP firsts that defined the beginnings of his formidable political career. In 1952 both the republicans and the democrats were in disarray. The democrats were bitter and divided over a president with ever decreasing polls. They also lacked a candidate. The republicans were desperate. They had gone twenty years without power in the executive branch, and were feeling like it was now or never. They were opposite the democrats, they had two candidates. Robert Taft and Dwight Eisenhower were the two main contestants entering the national convention. Nixon represented the sentiments of the party, supporting Gen. Eisenhower, knowing that Eisenhower had a better chance of winning the presidency. After Eisenhower won the nomination, he and his staff decided on selecting Richard Millhouse Nixon as a running mate. Richard Nixon was, in many ways, the ideal running mate for Dwight Eisenhower. The general indicated that he

This preview
has intentionally blurred sections.
Sign up to view the full version.

James Weidner His 192 wanted someone "who was young, vigorous, ready to learn, and of good reputation." Only on the last of these criteria was Nixon suspect, and the most outspoken critics of Nixon's tactics were liberal Democrats who probably would not have voted for the Republican ticket in any event. Aside from providing a youthful counter to the sixty-two-year-old Eisenhower, Nixon balanced the ticket geographically, since Eisenhower's campaign relied heavily on New Yorkers. His nomination also indicated that California was becoming increasingly vital in presidential politics. Perhaps most important, Nixon was one of only a very few Republicans of national stature acceptable to both the Eisenhower camp and the Old Guard. His selection was intended to foster unity within the party and to calm the strife that could lead to another electoral disaster like that of 1948. When he accepted the nomination, he showed the convention that they had made the right choice, by pushing his personal joy out of the way and spoke of the need to win for the Republican Party. On his nomination, The New York Times stated that: “Gen.

This is the end of the preview. Sign up
to
access the rest of the document.